By Abdulrahman Abdullahi
Dangote Sugar Refinery has disclosed that through the implementation of the Upstream Integration Policy (BIP) of sugar production, $700 million can be earned yearly by Nigeria in foreign exchange.
The Chairman, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Aliko Dangote, revealed this at the company’s 15th annual general meeting on Thursday in Lagos.
According to Dangote, one of the reasons that will undermine the nation’s goal of achieving self-sufficiency as planned is factoring in the distortions as part of the sugar master plan.
He said the policy would not only reduce imports of raw sugar, but save nations huge currencies used for importing.
“The upstream integration policy of the Dangote sugar refinery is making significant progress and we will remain committed to this policy,” he said.
Speaking to shareholders, he said, despite the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced an increase in production volume which rose 13.7% to 743,858 tonnes in the during the period under review, from 654,071 tonnes in 2019.
He noted that there was rapid turnover of 214.3 billion naira compared to 161.1 billion naira in 2019.
He added that the sugar group recorded a 6.9% increase in sales volume, from 684,487 tonnes in 2019 to 731,701 tonnes in 2020.
